Thoughts on Throwing Mastery

In one of my previous posts I wrote about how to get to a 5/10 in terms of throwing ability.

Champe wrote a post lately lamenting NUT's lack of great throwers.  His words ring true to me, especially his point that great throwers (or even good throwers) cannot develop without putting in work on their own time to grow.  I feel that there are two ways for teams to be successful in the wind: a team either needs to have a small collection of really great wind throwers who can drive the offense (this would be 3 people in the 7+/10 range), or a team needs to have a high quantity of consistent adequate to good throwers (everyone is in the 5/10 to 7/10 range).  If your team does not have any 7+'s, then the path is obvious: elevate everyone as much as you can and try to hit the 2nd path.  This is the path we are pursuing with NUT this year.  (If you are a NUT and you are reading this, this is your reminder to go throw today).

But in future years, it would be tremendously helpful to develop throwers who can attain 7+/10 levels of ability.  This is a long-term development question, and this is what I want to think about today.  So the main question here is how do you go from a 3-5/10 to a 6-8/10?  I am not going to talk about how to get to a 9 or 10, because in my opinion this refers to the best throwers on the planet.  And I would not claim to know anything about how the best throwers in the world have developed.  My goal here is to talk about how to go from average/good to great.

I want to spend some time reflecting on what differentiates a good thrower from a great thrower.  I think defining the differences is helpful because it makes the objective more clear.

So what can great throwers do that good throwers cannot do?
Here's a brainstorm:
1 - Throw smooth, sharp passes regardless of wind or rain
2 - Throw with pace when needed
3 - Throw with weight behind the disc
4 - Control the edge and shape of the throw
5 - A 40+ yard range in a constant 15 mph headwind when unmarked (both sides)
6 - Able to do the first 4 things when pivoting vs a hard mark
7 - Able to throw at a variety of release points while doing the first 4 things
8 - Knows limits and plays within them and the context of the game, regardless of situation
9 - Be able to pull very well
10 - Be able to throw pinpoint, catchable overheads

By contrast, someone who is an average to good thrower (3-5/10) will look more like this:
1 - Throws will wobble or get caught in the wind sometimes (not smooth/sharp enough as appropriate)
2 - Will make disc pace mistakes (either throwing too slowly or too quickly for the situation)
3 - Aren't able to get their weight down and use their hips and core to add power smoothly all the time
4 - Will make shape mistakes on throws occasionally
5 - Can't consistently stretch the field upwind, stifling wind offense
6 - Loses pace or smoothness too much when pivoting
7 - Struggles with multiple release points in wind or against hard marks
8 - May make a few mistakes per game by misjudging limits
9 - Average Puller
10 - Might be less consistent with overhead shots

So I think being a great thrower is about being able to be really dialed in and execute every throw to a very high level.  Good throwers may do this on 90% of their throws, but that extra 10% can make a massive difference, when a couple mistakes can lead to turns, and a couple turns can change the game.

I think that a player can have bad mechanics and put in a lot of work and still get to 3-5/10.  If a player has bad mechanics, I think it's possible they won't be able to grow further without addressing those mechanics issues.

Specifically, if a player has a bad mechanical foundation, they may be limited in terms of how smoothly and sharply they can throw the disc, especially in high wind.  They may also be limited to how much power they are able to transfer into the disc with their hips and legs, and they may also struggle to maintain a smooth forearm and wrist when gripping the disc as tightly as is needed in high wind and with longer throws.

I have a hypothesis that one of the biggest things in all this is how great throwers are able to really dial up their focus and execute a perfect pass every time.  I think this is the standard to which great throwers are held, and if the intent is to go from good to great, players must build comfort operating in this mental space so that it's automatic in gametime.

There is a ton of video out there now of great throwers that can be used as a learning resource and as inspiration.  If you feel you have hit a wall, taking & analyzing video of yourself is a massively important tool for understanding ability level and mechanics issues.